14 scenes from Pogaru edited after members of Brahmin community object

The makers of the Kannada film Pogaru have agreed to delete 14 scenes from the movie after members of the Brahmin community raised objections. The makers and members of the community arrived at the decision after a meeting between the Karnataka Brahmin Development Board and Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday in Bengaluru. Pogaru was the first big-budget Kannada film to release amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

A member of the community, Sreekanth, had reportedly said that no community should be targeted in cinemas, and that their sentiments should be taken into consideration. He further stated that they protested because they were hurt, and welcomed the maker’s decision to remove the scenes. The community members had given a deadline of Wednesday evening, failing which they were set to continue protesting.

Pogaru Team Deletes 14 Objectionable Scenes From The Movie After Brahmins Community Complains

Video Link ►https://t.co/Owb0ibi0Yx#TV9Kannada #ಪೊಗರಿಗೆಕತ್ತರಿ #PogarugeKathiri #BrahminsCommunity #DerogatoryScenes #DhruvaSarja #KFCC #RashmikaMandanna #Kannadanews pic.twitter.com/m7ORB9Lr7o

— TV9 Kannada (@tv9kannada) February 24, 2021

The film stars actors Dhruva Sarja and Rashmika Mandanna, and Chikkanna, P Ravi Shankar, and Pavitra Lokesh in supporting roles.

“The makers and producers of Pogaru have apologised to the members of the community who were protesting outside the Film Chamber from Monday. They arrived at a consensus and 14 objectionable scenes and dialogues are being edited out of the film. The edited version will be screened from this evening onwards,” said Venkatesh, a member of KFCC.

The director Nanda Kishore, apologising to the community, said that his mistake was not intentional. “We did not intend to hurt anyone. All the controversial scenes in the movie will be removed and the viewers won’t know the difference,” he said, adding that the film is like a child to him and has guaranteed that the edits won’t affect the storyline.

It has become a fashion to humiliate Hindus & take a ride on our sentiments.

Whether they have guts to portray other religions in this manner?

Screening of #Pogaru film has to be stopped until such objectable scenes are censored.

Hurting Hindu emotions can't be ignored. pic.twitter.com/H6RYijonoK

— Shobha Karandlaje (@ShobhaBJP) February 23, 2021

The scenes in question included one where the protagonist places his foot on the shoulder of a priest. The community members objected to several scenes and dialogues that they said hurt the sentiments of Brahmins.

President of KFCC Jayaraj had assured that the scenes would be edited by Wednesday.

Many took to Twitter to express their outrage, including BJP leader Shobha Karandlje who wrote, “It has become a fashion to humiliate Hindus & take a ride on our sentiments. Whether they have guts to portray other religions in this manner? Screening of #Pogaru film has to be stopped until such objectable scenes are censored. Hurting Hindu emotions can't be ignored.” She also released a video message regarding the issue.

Meanwhile, a journalist named Chiru Bhat posted on social media, expressing fear of being attacked by Dhruva Sarja fans after he received threats for making a video criticising the scenes.